Ignited minds is the beautiful book written by Dr. A.P.J Abdul kalam. In this book, the author cited many examples and experiences from his real life which will guide young generation to achieve success in their lives.
2. Song of YouthAs a young citizen of India,
Armed with technology, knowledge and love for my nation,
I realize, small aim is a crime.
I will work and sweat for a great vision,
The vison of transforming India into a developed nation
Powered by economic strength with value system.
I am one of the citizens of a billion,
Only the vison will ignite the billion souls.
It has entered into me,
The ignited soul compared to any resources,
Is the most powerful resource
On the earth, above the earth and under the earth.
I will keep the lamp of knowledge burning
To archive the vision – Developed India.
3. About the Book
• Name of book: IGNITED MINDS
Unleashing the power within India
• Author: A.P.J. Abdul Kalam
• Language: English
• Copies sold: Over 1 million
• Publication: Penguin Books
• Year of publication: 2002
• No. Of pages: 189
• Cover: Paperback
4. Highlights of the book
Dr. Kalam has dedicated ignited minds to an intermediate school child, named
Snehal Thakkar, whom he met at a school and while talking to the students, a
question had come up: ‘who is our enemy?’
Kalam recalled that many answers came up, but the answer on which
all agreed came from her: ‘our enemy is poverty.’ It is the root cause of our problems
and should be the object of our fight, not our own.
The small book contains dynamic and original ideas, examines attitudes afflicting
the Indians, and present prescriptions for the rapid growth of India to enable the
country to emerge as a developed country.
5. 1. The dream and the message
Spirituality must be integrated with education.
Self realization is the focus. Each one of us must
be aware of our higher self. We should ignite our
dormant inner energy and let it guide our lives.
The radiance of such
minds embarked on constructive endeavor will
bring peace, prosperity and bliss to this nation.
6. 2. Give us a Role Model
A nation’s wealth is the young generation of the
country. When they grow up, who can be the role
models ?
Mother, Father and elementary school
teachers play a very important part as role
models.
When the child grows up, the role models
will be national leaders of quality and integrity in
every field including politics, the sciences,
technology and industry.
7. 3. Visionary Leaders and Scientists
• Vision ignites the minds. India needs visionaries of
the stature of J.R.D. Tata, Vikram Sarabhai, Satish
Dhawan and Dr. Verghese Kurien.
• These type of visionaries can involve an entire
generation in mission- driven programs which
benefit the country as a whole.
‘You must build on the resources represented by our
young professionals and by our nation’s farmers.
Without their involvement, we cannot succeed. With
their involvement, we cannot fail.’
8. 4. Learning from Saints and Seers
We survived as a nation the onslaughts of invaders
and the numbing effects of colonialism. We have also
learnt to adjust to the rifts and divisions in our own
society. In the process of all the adjustment, we also
lowered our aims and expectations.
Our spiritual wisdom has been our
strength. We must regain our broad outlook and draw
upon our heritage and wisdom to enrich our lives. We
need to home- grow our own model of development
based on our inherent strengths.
9. 5. Patriotism beyond Politics and
Religion
There are success stories among failures. There is
hope among chaos, promise among problems. We
are one billion people with multiple faiths and
ideologies.
The absence of a national vision makes
us vulnerable. There is need to reinforce this seam
and amalgamate us into one national forum.
10. 6. The Knowledge Society
Ancient India was a knowledge society that
contributed a great deal to civilization. We need to
recover that status and become a knowledge power.
We must learn from our mistakes to achieve
a better standard of life. A developed India will
supplant a spirit of defeat with the spirit of victory.
11. 7. Getting the Forces Together
We need to adapt the implementation of our
programs and policies into a mission mode to
succeed.
Progress cannot be swift and far –
reaching if the path is full of potholes. The
abundant national resources, human and
material, remain to be fully utilized.
12. 8. Building a New State
The way to development is through purposeful
activity.
The young have to be guided properly, so that
their lives find a proper direction and their creativity
is allowed to flower. To facilitate this, certain
educational reforms must be initiated.
The mindset must change, showing
willingness to take pragmatic risks. Success will
follow.
13. 9. To My Countrymen
We need to realize that missions are always bigger than
organizations, just as organizations are always bigger than
the individuals who run them.
Missions need effort and the mind
provides the purpose. We need a vision that is shared by the
entire nation.
No ideology is above the security and
prosperity of our country. No agenda is more important
than harmony among the people.
Our freedom did not come as a gift. The
whole country struggled for decades to achieve the first
vision of independence, so we have to protect it.
14. Conclusion
Nations consist of people and with their effort, a nation can accomplish all it could
ever want. Motivating India’s youth especially, is the central theme of Ignited
minds.
Igniting Minds is all about breaking away from the forces that would prefer
selling cheap labour and raw materials and providing a large market for goods
and services of other nations. It is about developing that conviction in ourselves,
and discarding the things that hold us back.
Dr. Kalam writes, embed the thought “Nation is bigger than the Individual” in the
minds of the leaders and people. And when they recite this, I see the developed
India.
15. Evaluation
The beauty of this book lies in the fact that, while emphasizing on the
technological development of nation to make India stand in the elite group
of developed Nations the author also drew attention on social and cultural
aspect. The author mentioned how spiritual education along with
Knowledge can create wonders.
The book talks about how one should
integrate our cultural and social values (ethics) with modern thinking,
Enthusiasm of youth. This integration will produce potential leaders, Role
models for tomorrow which will have integrity, respect and the thought of
“Nation comes first” embedded in their hearts and minds.